El Centro, CA
El Centro, CA Metro Area
Figures are medians for the whole El Centro, CA Metro Area, not the city proper.
Among the 300 U.S. metros CityLedger tracks, El Centro ranks 292nd for affordability — how far a typical paycheck stretches after local prices — and 273rd for income. A household earns $60,749 a year while median rent runs $1,062/mo, making it expensive relative to what residents earn. Affordability and price level are different lenses: the raw cost of living here runs 5% below the U.S. average.
Its strongest card is rent (67th of 300), while health is the soft spot (299th). Housing usually decides a move: rent ranks 67th and home prices 186th among the 300 metros CityLedger tracks.
For your salary & household
Enter your pay and household size to see what it's really worth here — the numbers update live and the link stays shareable.
On $75,000 for just you in El Centro, your take-home is worth about $61,253 once local prices are factored in — local prices stretch it further than the U.S. average.
Take-home estimates a single filer taking the standard deduction (2025 federal brackets, FICA, and state income tax) and isn't tax advice. “Real value” rebases take-home to average U.S. prices using the BEA cost-of-living index; the per-person figure uses the OECD square-root equivalence scale.
The numbers
Income & cost
- Median income
- 273rd of 300↑25.3%$60,749
- Cost of living?The local price level vs. the U.S. average of 100 (BEA). Lower means cheaper. This is raw prices, not adjusted for income.
- 152nd of 30095 (US=100)
- Cost-adj. income?Median household income divided by the local price level — what the typical paycheck is really worth here.
- $63,829
- Per-capita income
- $24,065
- Full-time pay
- $35,268
Housing
- Median rent
- 67th of 300↑31.1%$1,062/mo
- Home value
- 186th of 300↑53.7%$352,800
- Property tax
- $2,398/yr · 0.7%
- Sales tax
- 8.80%
Jobs & education
- Unemployment
- 297th of 30011.5%
- Bachelor's+
- 294th of 30018.9%
- Avg commute
- 143rd of 30024 min
People
- Population
- 181,724
- Population change
- +0.3%
- Median age
- 34.0 yrs
- Foreign-born
- 31.5%
- Broadband
- 95.5%
Environment & risk
- Air quality (AQI)
- 289th of 30063
- Natural-hazard loss
- 265th of 300$31/$10k
Health
- Fair/poor health
- 299th of 30032.4%
- Uninsured (18–64)
- 22.2%
Sources: U.S. Census Bureau (ACS), U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis, U.S. EPA, FEMA, CDC, NOAA — every figure's source is listed on our methodology page. Data built 2026-06-14. ↑↓ mark the change since 2019.
How CityLedger scores it
Transparent weights — see our methodology.
Strengths
- + Rent
Watch-outs
- – Affordability
- – Household income
- – Job market
- – Education
- – Air quality
- – Hazard safety
- – Health
Climate
30-year normals (1991–2020) from the nearest station — imperial co ap.
What jobs pay in El Centro
Median annual wage by occupation (BLS OEWS 2025) — half of workers in each role earn more, half less.
- Family medicine physicians
- $220,170
- Lawyers
- $162,580
- Pharmacists
- $158,490
- IT managers
- $152,360
- Financial managers
- $129,480
- Software developers
- $125,930
- Civil engineers
- $109,490
- Registered nurses
- $103,450
- Elementary school teachers
- $100,390
- Secondary school teachers
- $99,440
- General & operations managers
- $99,250
- Accountants & auditors
- $76,280
- Police officers
- $76,230
- Electricians
- $74,450
- Carpenters
- $74,340
- Plumbers
- $62,390
- Truck drivers (heavy)
- $55,140
- Construction laborers
- $53,560
- Maintenance & repair workers
- $47,870
- Customer service reps
- $46,240
- Janitors
- $40,450
- Retail salespersons
- $35,490
- Cashiers
- $35,090
- Waiters & waitresses
- $34,320
Source: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, OEWS 2025 — annual median wage. Cross-industry, all experience levels.
Where new residents move from
The states sending the most people to the El Centro metro, by estimated movers (U.S. Census 2022 migration flows, 5-year). Moves from elsewhere in California are excluded to show where out-of-state arrivals originate.
- Arizona418
- Kansas81
- Colorado58
- Nevada42
Source: U.S. Census Bureau, ACS 2022 Migration Flows (5-year).
Cities like El Centro
Closest matches across cost, income, size, education, and age — tap to compare.
El Centro metro — frequently asked
- What is the median rent in the El Centro metro?
- Median gross rent across the El Centro, CA Metro Area is $1,062 a month (U.S. Census Bureau, ACS 2024). That figure covers the whole metro area, not just the city of El Centro.
- What is the median household income in the El Centro metro?
- A typical household in the El Centro, CA Metro Area earns $60,749 a year (U.S. Census Bureau, ACS 2024).
- Is El Centro expensive to live in?
- The overall cost of living in the El Centro, CA Metro Area runs about 5% below the U.S. average (BEA Regional Price Parities, 2024) — prices are lower than average, before accounting for local pay.
- Does a paycheck go far in the El Centro metro?
- After adjusting for local prices, the median household income is worth about $63,829 (versus its face value of $60,749). CityLedger rates the El Centro, CA Metro Area expensive for what residents earn.
- What is the typical home value in the El Centro metro?
- The median home value across the El Centro, CA Metro Area is $352,800 (U.S. Census Bureau, ACS 2024).
- What is the unemployment rate in the El Centro metro?
- The unemployment rate in the El Centro, CA Metro Area is 11.5% (U.S. Census Bureau, ACS 2024).